J.G. Millais assigns this very early drawing to 1838, when his father was nine. This was an eventful year for the precocious young artist. When it opened he was living with his parents in St Helier, Jersey, receiving his first lessons in drawing from a local artist, Mr Bessel. During the course of it he went to London with an intoruction to Sir Martin Archer Shee, PRA, who 'opened his eyes in astonishment' when he saw his drawings, 'and could hardly believe that they were the production of so childish a hand'; and by the end he was attending Sass's art school in Bloomsbury and had won the Silver Medal of the Society of Arts for a drawing of The Battle of Bannockburn. Two years later he was to enter the RA Schools as their youngest ever student